Word: fernwood
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...Shea quickly recalled that Moore had a gun. She had gratuitously offered to help "set up" the man who had sold it to her, Mark Fernwood, 29, leader of the John Birch Society chapter in nearby Danville, Calif., for a possible arrest on illegal gun sales. San Francisco police had also informed the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) of Moore's allegations about her gun purchase. O'Shea told Moore she could indeed be arrested if she carried a concealed weapon...
Still worried, O'Shea called the Secret Service again on Sunday morning, asking whether agents wanted Moore picked up. Prudently, they said it "might be a good idea." At the time, however, Moore was pursuing her voluntary undercover work. She was in Danville visiting Fernwood's home gun shop, where he makes replicas of antique weapons for sale. Ostensibly, she had gone there to get in some target practice with Fernwood. Actually, she had taken along an ATF man whom she introduced only as "Chuck...
They decided merely to look at guns. "Chuck's" interest was in finding out whether Fernwood, who is not a licensed gun dealer, was violating any gun laws...
Unchecked, Moore proceeded with her plan. She arrived in Danville about 11 a.m. to purchase a chrome-plated .38 Smith & Wesson revolver from Fernwood for $145. She paid by check. He found her "in good spirits," although she claimed she was in a rush. "I had no way of suspecting that this gal was going to go out and commit the completely crazy act that she did," he insisted later. "Can you imagine it? A John Birch officer selling guns to radical kooks." Moore also picked up some cartridges, although she seemed concerned when he had only target loads...
Dawn has hardly broken over the unhappy Hartman household when the phone rings. It is the police, who have arrested Mary's Grandpa Larkin as "the Fernwood Flasher." A shocked Mary says, "I can't talk now; I'm on the phone." Meanwhile, Tom is at work being regaled by Charlie with the song that his Loretta wrote about mass murder -from the murderer's point of view. "That's not a subject for singing," says Tom. "Course it is," replies Charlie. "Country and western is all about real things like murder, amputations, faucets dripping...